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A Text centred rhetorical analysis of Paul's Letter to Titus

A Text centred rhetorical analysis of Paul's Letter to Titus

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the theology <strong>of</strong> <strong>Titus</strong>, but tend <strong>to</strong> be interpreted in relationship with the other<br />

two letters. Structurally, the <strong>Letter</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Titus</strong>, when compared <strong>to</strong> the other<br />

Pas<strong>to</strong>rals, has been described as not having any structure, being incoherent.<br />

This position has been proposed by James Miller. In defence, Ray van Neste<br />

has argued for the coherence <strong>of</strong> the letter. Rhe<strong>to</strong>rical studies devoted<br />

exclusively <strong>to</strong> <strong>Titus</strong> have been found <strong>to</strong> be severely lacking. The exception<br />

has been the work by Joachim Classen entitled “A <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> reading <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Epistle <strong>to</strong> <strong>Titus</strong>”. While having much <strong>to</strong> commend it, the article has been<br />

shown <strong>to</strong> have several serious shortcomings: although the article deals with<br />

what is there, it does not address the issue <strong>of</strong> persuasion; in other words, it<br />

does not evaluate why the author says things in the way he does; it is more<br />

exegetical than <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong>; it is not a comprehensive treatment <strong>of</strong> the whole<br />

letter; it is silent about the obvious theological emphases in the letter. There<br />

have been increasing calls for an appreciation <strong>of</strong> the three letters individually.<br />

This study attempted <strong>to</strong> respond <strong>to</strong> that call on the basis <strong>of</strong> the following<br />

hypothesis: A thorough text-<strong>centred</strong> <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> approach <strong>to</strong> the <strong>Letter</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Titus</strong><br />

(i.e. without relating it <strong>to</strong> the other two Pas<strong>to</strong>ral <strong>Letter</strong>s or approaching it in<br />

terms <strong>of</strong> the authenticity/inauthenticity debate) will yield new insights for its<br />

interpretation.<br />

In Section 2 the <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> situation was presented followed by a<br />

comprehensive <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> <strong>analysis</strong> <strong>of</strong> the letter, using a text-<strong>centred</strong>, minimal<br />

theory framework approach, formulated by D.F. Tolmie (2005). The objective<br />

was <strong>to</strong> investigate and analyse the <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> strategy <strong>of</strong> the author from the<br />

text, which was divided in<strong>to</strong> 11 <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> units. Each unit was demarcated and<br />

described in terms <strong>of</strong> the dominant <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> objective <strong>of</strong> the author. This was<br />

done based on a verse-by-verse <strong>analysis</strong> <strong>of</strong> the text. This approach yielded<br />

much insight in<strong>to</strong> the unique <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> structure <strong>of</strong> the letter as a whole and<br />

provided rich insights in<strong>to</strong> the coherence <strong>of</strong> the letter. A variety <strong>of</strong> <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong><br />

techniques revealed the intricate <strong>rhe<strong>to</strong>rical</strong> structure that characterise this<br />

short letter. Some techniques have been observed that may not yet have<br />

been categorised by scholars <strong>to</strong> date.<br />

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